Resources

I sometimes hear from people wondering what books, podcasts, websites I would recommend. I thought I would put together some of the resources I find helpful in the hope that you will find them helpful as well.

Websites/Blogs: A word or two about why I have selected these and not others. What unifies these people is not that I necessarily agree with everything they say, do, think or write. Some of these figures represent my own (current) positions better than others and I read and listen to some of the voices listed below, more regularly than others.
I think the reason I continue to come back to the thinkers and websites listed below is because they continue to help me discern what it means to be a Christian and to respond thoughtfully and faithfully the the time and place I find myself in. In the people below, you won’t (usually) find any of the tribalistic, culture warrior, hear what you want to hear, us versus them commentary that characterizes so much of Christian media. Instead, what unites these voices is that they are Christian, thoughtful, self critical, and interested in responding faithfully to the issues of our day. I hope these resources help you to grow spiritually, intellectually and in faithfulness to the way of Jesus.

• Alan Jacobs: Christian humanities professor at Baylor University thinking out loud on his blog.
• America Magazine Catholic, Jesuit magazine, that “leads the conversation about faith and culture by producing excellent, unique, relevant and accessible content.”
• Church Life Journal A online journal from Notre Dame Press. Features theological and philosophical articles from mostly Catholic authors.
• David Cayley Extensive archives of long blog posts on a verity of topics, well worth reading. Also check out his Ideas archives, I highly recommend these shows.
• First Things First rate intellectual engagement with the issues of the day from a conservative, ecumenical, Catholic perspective.
• Mere Orthodoxy Thoughtful Christian engagement with “arts, movies, literature, politics… sexuality, or any other crevice of the human experience.”
• Milinerd Extensive archives showing the capaciousness of the Christian tradition.
• Mockingbird Magazine A magazine writing with the stated aim of “connecting the Christian faith with the realities of everyday life”.
• Plough Magazine The online version of Plough magazine, run by the Bruderhof. Thoughtful, spiritually edifying pieces.
• Ross Douthat Thoughtful Catholic, conservative columnist at the New York Times writing on politics and culture.
• The Convivial Society Thoughtful reflections on our technological society.
• Where Peter Is Catholic website, a great resource for understanding the vision of Pope Francis.

Hutterite and Hutterite-Adjacent Blogs: Note that some of these blogs are not kept up to date, but readers might be interested in reading through the archives. I am posting this list here for reader interest, and not because I agree with what these individuals are saying:

Hutterite Websites:

Hutterite YouTube

Podcasts:

• Ask NT Wright Anything Every two weeks Justin Brierley sits down with New Testament scholar NT Wright to ask, well, anything.
• Crackers and Grape Juice Liberal Mainline pastors trying (and usually failing) to talk about faith “without using stained glass language.” Funny, insightful and provocative.
• Glory To God The podcast of Eastern Orthodox priest Father Stephen Freeman.
• Mere Fidelity The podcast of “Mere Orthodoxy” featuring conversations that “discuss the shape faithfulness to the Gospel should take in the twenty-first century.” The hosts “talk a lot about theology, but may take up anything pertaining to politics, culture, or society as well.”
• My Strange Bible An archive of Tim Mackie’s sermons and lectures.
• On Script Interviews with some of the top biblical scholars in the field today.
• Tent Theology Podcast of Kierkegaard scholar and political theologian Stephen Backhouse. I would especially recommend his series “Followers of the Way” for those of you wondering what it means to follow Jesus.
• The Bible Project In depth conversations between biblical scholar Tim Mackie and question asker John Collins. If you want to learn about how the bible is a “unified story that leads to Jesus,” this is the podcast for you!
• The Mockingpulpit: A sermon podcast proclaiming the unconditional grace that is offered to us in Jesus. Life-giving and worth checking out especially if you are feeling burned out.
• The PloughCast: A podcast from Plough Magazine, featuring conversations, interviews and article readings.
• The Word: Scripture Reflections Spiritual reflections produced by America Magazine, I especially recommend the introduction to Ignition Contemplation called “Imagine.”
• Theology in the Raw Preston Sprinkle’s podcast, discusses a wide range of issues with a special focus on issues surrounding Christian sexual ethics.
• Word on Fire Bishop Robert Baron is brilliant in his articulation of Christianity and Catholicism and is well worth listening to.
• You’re Not Accepted Another podcast from the Crackers and Grape Juice team, they have a ongoing series discussing the works of Stanley Hauerwas that is worth listening to.

You Tube Channels:

• Alistair Roberts Daily videos doing commentaries on the bible with a special focus on Biblical typology.
• Bishop Robert Baron Lectures and interviews from Bishop Robert Baron.
• Brad Jersak Wide range of videos, often between Brad Jersak and Ron Dart, as well as many others, always compassionate and thoughtful.
• Breaking in the Habit Short videos from Franciscan Friar, Casey Cole, his videos will give you a snapshot into the life of a Friar as well as excellent introductions to Christian, and specifically Catholic theology.
• Bruderhof A look into the life of the Bruderhof communities.
• Grail Country The channel of my friend Nate Hile. Tune in for his wide ranging conversations and interviews with esoteric theological guests.
• Gregory Sadler Large archive of lectures introducing you to key figures in philosophy.
• John Vervaeke Cognitive Scientist from Toronto University who does a lot of work on meaning of life. He has a 50 part lecture series called “Awakening from the Meaning Crisis” that is well worth getting into.
• Jonathan Pageau Eastern Orthodox icon carver who makes videos on Christian symbolism.
• Paul Vanderklay Paul is a pastor from Sacramento and a friend of mine. I’ve been listening to his videos for a few years now and he exemplifies what a thoughtful, compassionate Christian engagement with the issues of our day would look like. (Paul also has a podcast version of the videos he makes.)
• Plough Publishing An archive of Events from Plough publishing.
• Ten Minute Bible Hour Listen to Matt talk about “God, Christianity, Church History, and most of all the Bible itself.”
• The Bible Project Short videos on word studies and biblical themes, great for classrooms or Sunday schools.

Books and Authors: Most the the authors listed below have many more books besides the ones I listed and they would be worth reading as well! Looking over this list, I notice that one limitation is that most of these authors are mostly modern. With this noted, maybe that’s fine. It’s easy to find lists of classics online, and you can’t go wrong by immersing yourself there. But what a lot of the writers below do, is bring the breadth and depth of the Christian tradition to bear on our contemporary situation, and they can help us to be thoughtful, rooted Christians, today.

Kierkegaard: A few words for readers interested in getting into Kierkegaard’s writings. I would recommend watching this interview, then reading Stephen Backhouse’s biography of Kierkegaard and then starting with Training in Christianity or Fear and Trembling.

Literature: (As you can see by this list, I don’t read enough fiction)

Thinking

Christianity and Politics:

General Theology:

Bible: